Show Rules

Is it common for people to give valium to their pets to calm them down??? I mean I'm only showing HHP and mentioned to someone on how much calmer her cat was after in every ring the judge had the owner take the cat out of the cage. She turned to me and said she gave her valium and it did the trick (well only for that ring as her behavior came right back). This seems wrong to me....

I believe it is wrong to do that. And I imagine if the show committee or judges found out they may be banned from showing any of their cats.

You don't know how an animal will react. And if the cat needs medication to be shown, then the person who owns it SHOULD be banned. They don't care about the welfare of their cat - only greedy about the wins and that is sad.

Many times you get the opposite reaction and if the cat does seemed drugged it can be disqualified. I feel sorry that a person has to resort to drugs just for a ribbon.

Ok that is how I felt. This was only HHP too.... I mean my girl was carrying on too but some of these drugs can have unexpected/dangerous side-effects if not taken with advisory. I couldn't believe this woman out and told me too. I think I sat that ring dumbfounded.

I think I'd have said "a little too loud" something like:

"gee its sad when people have to resort to drugs to make their cat calm for showing" and walk away!

I would have said something to the show committee. That is sad.

However, we have used natural remedies for our cats - like Rescue Remedy and Sedapet. Although they don't really work.

I think someone there mentioned it to the clerk. I heard two people talking and one woman said "You should tell them!!" and the woman responded yah I think I will. She went up to the clerk and whispered something to her. I'm kind of thinking that they knew.

Today that cat was entered halfway through the show. It was fine and docile so I was thinking the same thing was going on again. But when the judge put it back in the cage it turned and bit the judge's hand.

A bit OT - how are your cats doing?

The other tabbies in their division were all extremely friendly (liked being pet, loved the judge, and played like crazy). So my girl Autumn was a bit on the shy side but is pretty easy to handle. If the judge does to many goofy things then she would hiss (ok one incident). So overall she got 3rd best in division 3 times out of 14. This girl is very pretty and I think given time she will loosen up in the ring, she does have the tortie princess complex though.

Hope was there more for experience. She is difficult to handle and I should have expected no different (I'm the only one she lets hold her). I've been trying to work with her on handling but I decided to go for it and enter her. Several judges had a hard time with her so put her back in the cage immediately but with every ring she got better. What was a great breakthrough was the last ring. The judge was able to handle her without fighting at all! She seemed to be getting more comfortable. She also started playing in her cage quite a bit but as soon as she went to the judges ring she became defensive. It was her first time too. I don't know...I feel like I really bonded with her through this. She has gotten really agreeable to me holding her and is better with other people which is what I hoped for.

The people that put this show on did a reallly good job... We got backpacks full of snacks, toys, a book, cuetips, (Kai I didn't get any of the X/O stuff - maybe they only gave that to people with whole males). They had a fruit cake there with kiwi on it. There was tons of refreshments. I got a door prize (a candle holder).

Best of all I got to see a lot of bengals and watched rings when I could. I had fun.

Good to hear you had fun!

Glad the show was fun for you...

I know that the CFA strictly prohibits the use of drugs on cats in shows and they will be disqualified if they get caught.

I had a scottish fold i showed years ago, and she hated the shows... I was always asked for the owner to come up and get her out of the cage.... That was the end of our career in the shows...

I did how ever have my wonderful little housecat win the household division in loveland colorado in 1992!!!! Bless his heart!!

First time is the strangest to most cats. Sounds like they will adjust. A few more shows will tell you if they want to go or not

What I would do, is get friends/family to handle your show cats in the same manner as the judges would do. That will help them adjust to different people touching them, stretching them, etc.

Some cats are natuaral hams from the start - those are the ones EVERYONE wants

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Some cats are natuaral hams from the start - those are the ones EVERYONE wants

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There were so many of those!! There were 7 black and white cats and they all were outgoing and loved being there. Almost all the cats except that ladies, my 2 and one other (thats out of 30) so that was a lot of really friendly cats!

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

Kai I didn't get any of the X/O stuff - maybe they only gave that to people with whole males.

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You're probably right about that. That product is great and if you have the chance at another show to buy some....do it. Somewhere I have the distributors business card...I'll look for it.
I enjoyed meeting you at the show and I thought both of your cats did very well for their age and not having been shown more than once ever before. Both Hope and Autumn are beautiful cats and you can take pride in the fact that they did that well in the midst of all that noise and comotion at the show.
In the near future, when you start showing your bengal kittens....take them to the show early (4 months) and show them often. That way, you'll have a well adjusted easy going kitten/cat to show for the long run.
Teri and I look foward to seeing you at the upcoming shows!

Thanks! It was great meeting you too! Its nice to have someone at a show that I can trust for advice. I have a coworker that usually shows that breeds Maine Coon's but I need someone that knows the bengals. I enjoyed watching the bengal rings when I got the chance. Maybe next time you can give me some commentary during a ring.

Our vet suggested that we give our kitty a tiny bit of Valium once to help calm her after she went missing for a few days. It made her crazy - out of her mind, and she lost control of her back legs and then slept for about 16 hours. We gave her the teensiest little bit - about half a miligram if I remember rightly, and it just freaked her out. I will NEVER do that again, it was horrible. You never know how a cat will react to a sedative drug and anyone who does it for anything NON-medicinal should be banned, IMO

Under the care of a vet sometimes the use of these drugs is ok. But I know this woman wasn't acting through a vet... I once gave my cat Clover valium under the vets recommendation because we had to go on a 12 hour move and I was worried he would be really scared. It didn't effect him much until about 6 hours in and then it was like BAM, the cat was out. That was a situation out of my control though and wanted to make him comfortable. I was young and didn't know what valium was either.

that's sad that people have to resort to drugs to calm a house cat down omg

Hmm.. Give my cat a valium? I would never do that. I think there is stuff made for animals, like PetCalm and stuff like that.